Please grant permission to utilize fiberglass boats starting in 2025 for the Katchatheevu festival: HC

The district collector of Ramanathapuram was instructed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday to take into consideration allowing fishermen to go to the Katchatheevu festival in country boats and fiberglass boats starting the next year. The collector was given three months to make up his mind.

The ruling was made in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition that was submitted by Ramanathapuram district lawyer J Brinso Raymond. The bench of justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar made this decision. Raymond claims that if safety precautions are taken, a 2018 ruling by the high court approved the use of country boats for transportation to the Katchatheevu event.

Consequently, the authorities began to approve wooden boats equipped with engines in 2019. They have submitted a request to the authorities requesting authorization to visit the island in the aforementioned fiberglass boats, citing the fact that the majority of fisherman have now upgraded to these vessels. But according to Raymond, they haven’t been taken into account yet.

Raymond’s attorney asked the court to order the authorities to take the fishermen’s request into consideration starting in 2025 at the case’s hearing on Wednesday. The judges then issued the aforementioned order.